Crankbaits

[Jake P]

Gearing up this year for cranking. I am ready to give it a fair shot this year and see what happens. I have been doing alot of looking and there are so many to choose from its ridicolous. Rapalas line gives me headaches. I am also looking for an affordable price. I cant afford to spend 8 bucks a pop. I have been looking heavily at the academy H20 line and i am pretty interested in their lineup.

The finish IMO is great, they have decent color selection, even though i like rapalas a little better bt the basic colors i would use are there. I like the eyes too. I think im going to pick a handful and check them out along with some of the rapala's they have on sale for 3.88 and see if i can tell a difference or see if i like one over the other.

I know rapala is the favorite but does anyone use the h20 line? How are the hooks? Whats the durability like?

[bigbassctchr101]

I think the H2O's are comparable to a bandit in a couple of their baits as far as action goes. I've caught all kinds of fish on them and think they are a good value. I think they are much more durable than the DT series of Rapala...I've broken so many lips off them guys I don't even worry about buying them anymore. But, I've been known to be rough on a crankbait. Bandits are a good quality bait with all kinds of color choices and you can usually run into a deal with them. Stike King is also hit or miss, but for the most part they make a good crankbait for all depths that will catch fish. The cosmetic durability stinks, but they still catch fish. After a bunch of abuse though I've found they too start swimming differently.

[outdoorsman110]

Buy a couple Lucky Crafts.

[roadwarrior]

As a "collector" I have a bunch, but here are my suggestions for "all you need":

Norman Fat Boy, Redear

Bandit 100, White and your favorite color

1/2 oz KVD Red Eye Shad, Silver & Blue

LC RC 3.5, Purple Back/ Yellow Belly (This is the lure I am fishing on the Home Page)

[Gatorbassman]

H2O's are a fine crankbait. I started digging deep into cranking last year. My suggestion when learning crankbaits is to pick one brand and buy what you need for each depth. It helped me with minimize the confusion. A great brand for doing this is the Strike King Crankbait line just because they all have a similar body shape and the quality is fairly consistent across the board. Here's a little tip that I do to keep it simple.

[BriBass]

Thanks for the tip above! good idea!

[Deleted account]

Shallow cranking, depending on forage:

Combat crank mini

LC RC 0.5

Daiwa Peanut

SK KVD 1.0

Bandit 100

SK KVD 1.5

LC RC 1.5

I don't do a whole lot of deep cranking, but when I do I find I reach for fat free shads, and some other older bombers and rebels...

[Ima Bass Ninja]

I use the h2o Cranks allot. Especially the square bills. I love em. I have stopped buying all other brands unless the are in clearance or at a ridiculous price. The hooks are not the best i compare them to stike kings stock hooks some have straightened on me but I usually change them out after a couple of months fishing. I have found that once I switch the hooks out to some mustad kvd trebles the crankbaits are as good as any on the market. Also as I side note some top finishers at the recent bassmaster central open placed using h2o cranks

[Gavin]

I'm not gonna push product like some on this site. Cranks are hard to understand unless you break them down into categories...Two main categories are wide wobblers and tight wobblers...Fat Round Baits are the wide wobblers, flat sided baits are tighter wobblers. You want some in each category to cover different depths.

[iceintheveins]

Bomber Model As, Bandits, Storm Wiggle Warts, Strike Kings, and Excalibur Fat Frees are awesome crankbaits and all are under $6.00 apiece.

[Avalonjohn44]

I prefer cranking over other fishing methods, and I buy and use a ton of different cranks. I wanted a cheaper alternative to the LC RC1.5s so I bought a bunch of the H20 squarebills off of ebay since I do not live anywhere near an academy sports. I got them because of the rave reviews from some on this site. In my opinion they are far inferior to their Lucky Craft counterpart, and they are going back on Ebay.

Your post mentioned that cost was a factor, so LCs are out. However, you can do very well with some low priced baits, I heartily recommend Bandit 100s, 200s & 300s (100s=shallow 300s=deep) and Strike King KVD Square Bills. These baits all catch fish, all cost about $5 each at walmart, and all run nicely right out of the box. For $6.50 or so at walmart you can get Excalibur squarebills which are very nice, comparable to LC Rick Clunn 1.5s.

[roadwarrior]

The Lucky Craft are PERFECT in every way. With an effective lure retriever, you will own these lures virtually forever!

[outdoorsman110]

The Lucky Craft are PERFECT in every way. With an effective lure retriever, you will own these lures virtually forever!

x2

[heatmiser]

The Lucky Craft are PERFECT in every way. With an effective lure retriever, you will own these lures virtually forever!

This brings up a good question. What would you consider an effective lure retiever? I have recently purchased quite a few LC RC's and would love to fund a good retiever.

[Ima Bass Ninja]

The Lucky Craft are PERFECT in every way.

Except for their price tag

[RawThumb]

I have been using "Live Target" and there bluegill has been a killer for me, when it comes to largemouth. There lures are so realistic. Can't wait to try my frogs !

[whitwolf]

Bill Norman crankbaits, buy a few In each depth range and go to work.